More bream on Iso in Sydney

After my first visit to Clifton Gardens the other day, I decided, yesterday, to give it another go but went to the rocky bits on the right side of the beach accessing it through the walk path from the beach.
15 minutes after my first cast, the wind went mad, black clouds were forming and a massive dead branch felt off a tree and landed two meters from my feet. That was it for me, I packed up and went to the jetty. But the wind got even stronger and some fishos left for their cars. So did I.

However, I didn't want to waste an afternoon so decided to find a protected area and remembered of place I read from other forums as being more productive. And from memory it's location should protect me from the wind coming from that direction. So I headed there and walk down the path and hill to access the small rock platforms. I chose a group of four rocks and stand on the first of them. As I stepped on the rock, a blackfish got spooked and swam away... Before deploying my rod, I burleyed in front of me. 20 minutes have past and not a single bite, I became impatient as it was around 5pm and the sky was getting darker. So I casted on my left, nada... I casted on my right, trying to reach as the other set of rocks further back, and as the float settled it went down, bang! Smaller fighter, it was the first of three leather jackets.

An Iso fisher man was standing further up by the point, he was on a good location but it was too far for me and I didn’t have a lot of time so I decided to stay here.

I had enough of leatherjacket and they bit through my 6 lb leader so many time I’ve lost about 5 hooks, so I casted again in front of me in the hope the burley had kicked in. Again as the float settled it went for a dive, I strike and hooked up to something good! Letting the Iso rod do the work for me, the fish finally got to the rock and I lifted up as my platform was very low at near water level, my landing net is still a virgin! It was a nice bream, I estimated it to 28 cm. Second cast, a second bream of the same size, third cast got me an undersize bream that went back to the sea.

It then got quiet again, the sky was now at near zero visibility, I used what’s left of burley and made a last attempt, the float was barely visible, but I managed to see it went under for one more time and got me another good bream. That was exciting!

I called it a day and started packing up when $#&&@~!!!, in my excitements I forgot to check the water and my way back is now under water. Oh dear! Quick lets check Google Maps, it seems to be another exit on the opposite side, so I slowly jumped from rock to rock and got stuck again as a stack of small boats and kayaks were in my way and the rock on the side was too far to make a jump.

After some hesitation, I knew the only way out is to climb that bushy slope in front of me, so I looked around and see a low enough edge and used my landing net pole as a probe. Slowly, I made my way up avoiding fragile roots, branches and other obstacles and finally made it up there…

Behind me:

In front of me:

From the top:

Got home after one and a half hour drive and measured the fish. I released one small bream and two leather jacket. Here are the keepers, the breams were all around 29m.

What an adventure...

First bream on Iso

Until Tuesday, I will be finishing work at 3pm. That's a great opportunity for me to practice my Iso fishing skills around the Sydney area. Yesterday I went to discover Clifton Gardens, I've heard of this spot several times in the past but never got to visit it until now. I can understand why it is popular, the view is good, there is a nice grass field for family gathering, the beach is small but nice enough and there is a massive jetty where fishing is said to be pretty good at times.

I arrived at around late 3pm and there were already a lot of fishos. But everyone's bucket seemed to be empty, except for a guy who was catching yakkas. There was another Iso fisherman but he to was getting doughnut.

I've anyhow decided to give it a go and stayed till 5.30pm. I saw one other guy trying to catch a yellowtail for bait for Kingfish, as he was using a hook and bait that was way too big, I offered him a size 12 hook, he still didn't catch anything so I helped him by pulling out my handline and caught him a yakka to play with.

After 20 minutes of berleying and getting my bait stolen by pickers, something decent finally pulled my float down fast. Little fight and I pulled out a 26cm bream, the only good fish for the whole session...

I will be coming and try again.

My first legal Blackfish

As I got into Iso fishing, targetting Blackfish (aka Luderick) was to be expected. With a lot of efforts going to various rock fishing locations, I still haven't managed to catch any decent blackfish (caught couple of baby ones when targeting Bream...).

This morning I went to Bradleys Head, a wonderful location if you are looking for a fantastic panoramic view over the Harbour Bridge, for another attempt. I started on the rocky patches on the left of the amphitheatre but the first hours was pure failure, not a single bite, the tide was at the lowest...

I then decided to change spot and went on the jetty right in front of the amphitheatre where a lot of weeds were growing at the base. All went very slowly, caught couple of Pufferfish, little buggers, but then the tide started to raise and I could see a big school of bait fish swimming in. Very soon after that, my float went for a slow dive so I strike and hookup with a mullet.

A nice by-catch to start the excitement.
As my float drifted away, I saw a big Kingfish chasing some of the bait fish at around 6 meters in front of me. He must have been about 1.20 meters! All I could do was to admire this majestic fish swim by.

Then suddenly there were some noise behind me, a couple of crow were trying to get a feed from the bread inside my bag... I chase them away and secure the bait.

Back to my float, it has drifted past the left side of the jetty and above some weed bed, it sank! Strike & hook up again! This time if feels bigger and the rod was bending nicely. That's when I had an experience of the self pulling action of the Iso rod. Those long rods are extremely flexible and because they are trying to regain their original straight shape, they are pulling the fish for you at the same time, all I had to do is holding the base of the rod straight up and the fish was being pulled towards me by the rod. Quite neat. The fish was swirling around in the water and I couldn't recognise this type of movement, until it started to swim straight that's when I knew it was a Blackfish, and a good size one. I haven't brought a net with me and wasn't too sure about lifting it up. Not knowing my new Iso rod well yet, I didn't want to risk breaking it by lifting the fish out so I worked it back to the stairs on the side of the jetty. On the way the Blackfish was trying to dive under the weeds but thanks to the length of the rod (5.3m) it was just a matter of extending my arm in front of me and the fish was pulled out from below the weeds. Awesome! I then just caught the leader and pulled the baby out of the water.

31cm it was, not too bad for a first legal size Blackfish on Iso rod. It was the first time I saw a legal Blackfish in real life, and I find it very a nice fish.

Both the fish were not a match to a size #2 Iso rod that is designed for Drummers, but it still was a nice fight and seeing the rod bending over is quite exciting. As I was away from home to work on a night shift in Sydney, the fish were released to fight another day.

Hopefully, I will catch more of them soon and looking forward to fight a Drummer too!

A little fisherman

Just a quick post to share this cute video of my nearly 3 year old boy playing with the Pen Rod Goliath on Neutral Bay beach. The tiny rod looks gigantic when handled by this young fisherman :-D

Using Iso fishing accessories with a Pen Rod Goliath

I recently got into Iso Tsuri, unfortunately the weather conditions were not safe those last couple weeks so I'm still yet to have tried my Iso gears on the rocks. Next Wednesday, the OZIsoFishing forum members are organising a members trip in the Central Coast, I will be joining them and hopefully catch my first legal size Blackfish or Black Drummer!

In the mean time, I've been trying my 5.3 meters Yong Sung Naiad #2.0 rod at the local estuaries and find it quite a sensitive rod even though it is a size 2.0 rod. Even an undersize bream feels good on the rod, I can imagine what fight it would be to get a nice drummer on this.

As everything is about finesse in Iso fishing, the terminal tackle and various accessories are actually very suitable for my pen fishing rod.

Firstly, my favorite add-on is the HDF Hook Keeper, Iso fishing rods are thinner than their rock fishing counterparts. Which makes this hook keeper a match for the Pen Rod Goliath. I can now walk about with the rod extended and not having to hold the rig or have it dangling around and getting tangled.

Iso terminal tackle are pretty cool too. Their #8 swivel is very small and ideal for light lines. Their floats (in various sizes) are pre-weighted, you only need to add the equivalent splitshot sinker to neutralise the float's buoyancy so the fish won't feel anything on the bite.

The triangular yellow accessory you can see in the picture, underneath the float is a rear float cushion stopper. This one is shaped like a v-cushion, making it acts both as a bottom float stopper protecting the float hitting against the swivel, also reducing the lost of floats when the line breaks, as the stopper hold on tightly to the line and keeps the float from sliding out, the V shape helps pulling down the rig when by the use of bottom currents.

Above the float is a plastic stopper bead and a float stopper (pink) thread. Those stopper threads are made of a type of wool and it is very soft and slide through the tiny rod's top guide very easily instead of getting blocked like other plastic/rubber stoppers.

I've been testing this setup, targeting creek mullets and it works a treat using a 4lb flurocarbon leader with no splitshot as I needed the bait to float right under the water surface.